Neymar's Injury And Brazil's Brutality Against Colombia At World Cup - An Alternate View

Back in 1997, David Elleray a former top referee in England was asked
to review the 1970 FA Cup Final between Chelsea and Leeds United. That
final now enjoys iconic status while at the same time being infamous for
violence and brutality.
In the view of Elleray six red cards and twenty yellow cards would
have been handed out if the game had been officiated at a “modern” day
level.
Now I am no David Elleray and only 24 hours had past since the Brazil
and Colombia quarter –final match at the World Cup. But I could not
resist watching the game one more time. The reason? It seemed to me that
the game I had watched on Friday was somehow out of step with the
prevailing view of most pundits, bloggers and tweeters.
Over the last two days I have read columns describing a game of
“lawlessness,” “brutality,” and a “bloodbath” amongst other inflammatory
descriptions.
So yesterday, I watched the game again willing to accept that maybe I
was out of step with reality. Let’s start with a timeline of the fouls
and a description of each. Fouls by Brazil in bold type; Colombia in
italics. Foul count – Brazil then Colombia.

Minute

Foul

Foul Count

1

Cuadrado tug on Marcelo

0-1

3

Sanchez pull back on Fred

0-2

4

Teo push on Fernandinho

0-3

9

Oscar push from behind on Rodriguez

1-3

12

Oscar push on Armero

2-3

13

Teo on Luiz late challenge

2-4

14

Fernandinho block on Rodriguez

3-4

15

Cuadrado push on Fred

3-5

Guarin trip on Neymar

3-6

Marcelo nudge on Cuadrado

4-6

19

Ibarbo foot high on Maicon

4-7

24

Hulk created back for Zapata

5-7

Fernandinho trip on Rodriguez

6-7

25

Luiz late challenge on Ibarbo

7-7

27

Sanchez block on Neymar

7-8

28

Paulinho push on Ibarbo

8-8

Marcelo holds back Cuadrado

9-8

35

Fernandinho late challenge on Ibarbo

10-8

38

Thiago Silva push on Cuadrado

11-8

Zapata pulls Paulinho back

11-9

40

Fred push on Sanchez

12-9

42

Ibarbo push on Hulk

12-10

43

Zuniga trip on Neymar

12-11

45

Zuniga high challenge on Hulk knee

12-12

45+

Fernandinho push from behind on Rodriguez

13-12

Half time

47

Neymar hand ball

14-12

48

Maicon trip on Rodriguez

15-12

49

Maicon trips Rodriguez from behind

16-12

50

Hulk trip on Zuniga

17-12

51

Guarin push on Fernandinho

17-13

Marcello push on unknown defender

18-13

54

Fred push on Ospina

19-13

Marcelo trip on Cuadrado

20-13

55

Hulk trip on Zapata

21-13

Ramos holds Luiz

21-14

58

Fred pulls back Armero

22-14

61

Yepes holding Fred from behind

22-15

Luiz blocks Cuadrado

23-15

62

Marcelo trip on Cuadrado

24-15

63

Cuadrado block on Neymar

24-16

64

Thiago Silva (yellow card) blocks clearance by Ospina

25-16

65

Paulinho trip on Zuniga

26-16

67

Rodriguez (yellow card) trip on Hulk

26-17

72

Bacca foul on unknown Brazil defender

26-18

73

Hulk trip on Zapata

27-18

74

Paulinho high boot on Guarin

28-18

76

Bacca push on Thiago Silva

28-19

77

Julio Cesar (yellow card) trips Bacca for penalty

29-19

84

Zapata push on Fernandinho

29-20

87

Quintero holds Oscar back

29-21

90

Rodriguez barges Marcelo

29-22

90+

Fred push on Sanchez

30-22

90+

Hernanes blocks Zuniga

31-22

90+

Zapata foul

31-23

A summary of the offenders.

Fouls

Player

Brz

Col

Marcelo

5

Fernandinho

4

Hulk

4

Fred

4

Zapata

3

Cuadrado

3

Paulinho

3

Sanchez

2

Teo

2

Oscar

2

Rodriguez

2

Ibarbo

2

Bacca

2

Thiago Silva

2

Luiz

2

Maicon

2

Zuniga

2

Guarin

2

Hernanes

1

Quintero

1

Julio Cesar

1

Yepes

1

Neymar

1

Ramos

1

TOTALS

31

23

And here are some of the narratives that bother me.

Brazil set out to bully Colombia from the start

The statistics don’t support that conclusion. At half time the foul count was Brazil 13 to Colombia’s 12. It wasn’t until the 28th minute of the game that Brazil’s fouls exceeded those of Colombia.
There also seems to be some selective recall of the first half of the
match. Of the 25 fouls that were called the worst by far was the 45th
minute challenge by Colombia’s Zuniga on Hulk. Zuniga caught Hulk just
below the knee and the foul was deserving of a yellow card. It was, in
my opinion, the only individual foul in the first half that warranted a
caution from the referee.
Further to quote match commentator Jon Roder in the 58th minute “It’s not been a dirty game at all.”

Brazil brutalized Colombia and in particular James Rodriguez

I found Brazil’s approach to Colombia very similar to the methods
used by the Netherlands in the group game against Chile. Alexis Sanchez
was the focus of Dutch attention that day and of the 25 fouls (Brazil
had 6 more on Friday) 9 were on the Chilean attacker.
Remember the outrage that spilled over after that match and how the
Dutch were vilified for their treatment of Sanchez? Yeah, me neither.
James Rodriguez was on the receiving end of six fouls. Three by
Fernandinho, one by Oscar and two by Maicon – three trips, two pushes
and one block. None could possibly be construed as a threat to his
safety. The times of the fouls were 9th, 14th, 24th, 45th minutes in first half and 48th and 49th (Maicon in quick succession) in the second half.
This column in the New York Times
even defended Rodriguez in questioning why he was booked for “an
innocuous trip.” The fact is the trip may have been innocuous but when
Rodriguez tripped Hulk the Brazilian was a step away from a shooting
opportunity in front of the Colombia goal twenty two yards out.
Rodriguez wasn’t booked for the trip he was booked on account of the
context and positioning of the play.

Over the ninety minutes I did not see one individual foul by
Brazil that warranted a yellow card with the exception of the two that
were rightly given to Thiago Silva and Julio Cesar.

Persistent fouling by Brazil

This one is more difficult to refute with Fernandinho and Marcelo (in
particular) the main culprits. The purpose of issuing a yellow card is
to stop such consistent infringement and much has been made of the four
fouls by Fernandinho in the first half. But in the interests of full
disclosure shouldn’t it be mentioned that the same player went through
the second half without committing another foul? If the point was to
stop Fernandinho fouling it seems that self-regulation achieved the same
end.
Some saw the number of Brazil fouls as tactical fouling – a way to
disrupt the flow of the opposition’s game with fouls not bad enough to
incur the card -wrath of the referee. Brazil has shown over many years
(2002) that tactical fouling is part of their armory. But in this game I
am not so sure. It seemed to me that given the positions of the fouls
it was a case of petty fouling rather than tactical.

Brazil repeat offenders

No team has committed more fouls at this tournament than Brazil but
before the quarter final Colombia had committed more fouls than Brazil.
And just for good measure in between Brazil (96 fouls) and Colombia (91
fouls) is Costa Rica. The team that many have described as bringing a
refreshing attitude to the World Cup have committed 94 fouls.

Open Season on Spanish Referee Carlos Velasco Carballo

Did someone just cut their hand in a shark tank? It seems that almost
everyone and their uncle were lining up to take shots at the referee.
The problem is that so many writers go overboard and start to pick on
the wrong things.
One article I read took Carballo to task for allowing Colombia to
take a quick free kick. Rodrigues was tripped by Fernandinho in the 24th
minute and several Colombians rushed to Rodriguez’s defence. While
Brazilian and Colombian players milled around exchanging multilingual
insults (I assume) Rodriguez got up and played a quick free kick.
Immediately the throng dispersed because the ball was in play.
According to the writer the free kick should have been retaken and the
referee should have then calmed the players down before restarting the
match. Something – the calming of the players – that happened
immediately when Rodriguez took the quick free kick!!
The officiating was on the laissez-faire side but it was not as bad as has been made out.

Neymar injury

A number of writers apparently see the injury to Neymar as some sort
of Karma. Or to put it in plainer language – blame the victim. The
rationale goes something like this. Brazil started the brutality so they
should not be shocked when it rebounds and seriously injures their star
player.
First of all there was no initial brutality and second of all it
infers that when a serious injury happens it is the inevitable result of
something that could have been stopped.
Serious injuries happen with saddening regularity but the vast
majority are isolated incidents and often the result of innocent contact
or no contact whatsoever. It is a convenient narrative but not one
that holds together.

Zuniga meant to injure Neyma

Only Zuniga knows what the intent of his clumsy challenge actually
was. But that has not stopped the inference from Zuniga’s post game
interview that somehow he intended Neymar physical harm.
Take a step back. There are three minutes left in the quarter final
of the World Cup. Your team is 2-1 down and pushing for an equalizer.
The ball is cleared to just outside the opposition’s penalty area and
only their star striker is between you and the ball.
Do you (a) decide to take a whack at him and gain retribution for past wrongs?
Or (b) try to win the ball and get it back into the danger area?
Two additional points and honest answers only please.
When Neymar went down under the challenge who thought that he was playing for time?
Would you have questioned the referee’s decision if he had immediately blown for a foul and not allowed Brazil advantage?

The Spectacle
The petty fouling certainly impacted the game and lessened it as a
spectacle. But to describe the game in the inflammatory terms that have
been used so freely misrepresents what actually happened.
On Sunday morning Jeff Bradley (@JerseyJBradley)
tweeted something that seems very appropriate – “Deadlines and soccer
are a tough match. You learn so much more after seeing statistics and
re-watching in an emotion-free state of mind.”
It is a pity that those who have the time to think don’t use it more
productively instead of simply echoing the initial thoughts of others.

Zinat Hanna is a full time writer who spends most of his time in
the coffee shops of Texas. Zinat has a BSc in psychology. Her
other interests are self improvement, general health, trans-humanism and
brain training. As well as writing for websites and magazines, she also
runs her own sites and has published several books and apps on these
topics. She lives in Texas, USA with her boyfriend and in her spare
time she enjoys climbing, travelling, playing games, reading comics and
eating sandwiches.

About Me

Zinat Hanna is a full time writer who spends most of his time in
the coffee shops of Texas. Zinat has a BSc in psychology. Her
other interests are self improvement, general health, trans-humanism and
brain training. As well as writing for websites and magazines, she also
runs her own sites and has published several books and apps on these
topics. She lives in Texas, USA with her boyfriend and in her spare
time she enjoys climbing, travelling, playing games, reading comics and
eating sandwiches.